Pogies are still plentiful from Seabrook to Sheepscott Bay and they remain the safest bet for a big striper. The other bass option is river mouths such as the Mousam where the fish may be a tad smaller on average but make up for it with numbers.
New Hampshire Fishing Report
A critic could say that Captain Jon Tregea of Sea Run Charters is experiencing a scene which could have been lifted out of the movie Groundhog Day. Every outing does seem to be a cookie cutter version of the previous. But when those trips include consistently catching fish and happy charters than who could complain? Mackerel remain the magic bullet for Jon and the crew and they are still hanging in there off the 2KR Can as well as Hampton Shoals Ledge and Murray’s Rock. Drifting along the Piscatagua River or slowly trolling during slack is producing well. Another trick is to toss a live mackerel in the midst of the ubiquitous menhaden and see if there are any stripers shadowing the school. Bass may belt a bunker but a frisky, panicky mackerel is too much for the linesiders to refuse! For a chance at bigger Jon suggests a pogy/false dawn to dawn outing!
Chad from Dover Marine echoed what most everyone else is saying, life is easy with all those pogies around for striped bass. Therein lies a bit of a rub however. With all that easy bait around and water temperatures peaking not all stripers you find will be in a feeding mood. Some are complaining of trolled pogies getting repeatedly bumped without the fish taking it with purpose! When that happens try a chunk or even a topwater lure in the middle of the chase!
Squid are no problem from most every lit pier, bridge or wharf throughout the Piscatagua River watershed at night. The groundfish game continues to be hot with New Scantum accounting for the best haddock and pollock fishing. The Cove and The Curl were mentioned as standouts.
Zach from Suds ‘N Soda said that pogies have been plentiful in the harbors and bays of Rye, Hampton and Kittery! Any bass you get out of one of those schools is going to be a drag-puller! For more fish but less size Little Bay and Great Bay hold plenty of schoolie to small keeper bass.
Southern Maine Fishing Report
Brandy from Webhannet Bait and Boatyard said that the best stripers are coming out of the surf from such spots as Drakes Island. Heavily built 40-inch fish are feeding on pogies outside of York Harbor as well. From Wells Harbor anglers are occasionally snagging, re-hooking (circles are required) and catching stripers right off the jetty!
The mouth of the Mousam has been ideal for kayak fishers who are either trolling a tube-and-worm or live-lining pogies! Groundfish remains good with encouraging reports of halibut! The downside is that dog packs are present so use bait judiciously.
Josh Thelin from All Points Fly Shop and Outfitter just returned to from a date with brook trout and landlocked salmon in Labrador when we spoke so he wasn’t quite up to speed on the latest and greatest on the Downeast striper front but fellow fly fishermen have been telling tales of big bass belting bunker as far north as Sheepscott Bay! In spite of all the attention to pogies/bass off the coast the river mouths remain productive!
Tanner from Saco Bay Outfitters said not to discount black bass fishing this time of the year. Coastal areas now are all in on the striper contagion so odds are that you’ll have choice largemouth and smallmouth lairs all to yourself! Swing in the shop and Tanner will point you to his preferred Senko colors and maybe a hotspot or three!
New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Forecast
If the Piscatagua River is your preferred place than troll or drift mackerel along channel edges and over humps, bumps and lumps. Of course, a pogy on the line will make your outing strictly a big bass affair or bust. In Southern Maine check out the surf in Pine Point, Biddeford Pool, York Beach or Drakes Island where some of the heaviest bass around are falling for pogies!
How about a current report….